Alternate wiring for Kicker sub with Bose system. (DO THIS)

Derek99 · March 25

1 hour ago, MrLeadFoot said:

I assume you mean fine-tuning volume for each song, which you can do with the knob. But, what exactly do the switches do? And, how were they set when you got it? I thought first three were gain, so I assumed if you had them all up, you could just turn down with the remote, but I think what you're saying is that the knob doesn't turn down enough if the gain is too high, right?

If you take a look at the 1st page of this thread User Tjeli explains the settings pretty good. 1-3 are gain, 4 is remote on, 5 is crossover on\off and 6 is crossover adjustment.

I tried raising the gain switches but it was too loud for me even with the control knob. The knob works but I don't like having to make big adjustments all the time. Mine came set up with switch 1,4,5 & 6 up. 2 & 3 are down.

mtbadbob · April 7

On 8/23/2021 at 8:26 PM, Tjeli said:

Those are the microphones for Bluetooth. No ANC that I know of in the T1 trucks.

I found myself with 10 days of free time on my hands so I busted out the laptop today and did some measuring. I also measured with the phase switched going to the kicker amp input. I originally wired it using GMs color codes for positive and negative. Guess what? It sounds better and measures better with the input phase switched. So…. Bose sub green wire to green input on kicker and Bose sub blue wire to orange input on kicker.

I am running the eq at +4, -2, +12. I listened for about two hours at high volume to lots of different music. IMO this is as good as this system is going to get with these components.

I’d be interested to hear from others who have tried this. Maybe tomorrow I will fix the rattle in my drivers door.

-Eli

I'm going to switch mine, as I have it Kicker green to Bose blue.

mtbadbob · April 7

On 2/28/2024 at 9:08 AM, MrLeadFoot said:

What a bummer. When bought my 2022, i thought about buying that sub kit, but opted to wait a bit. Now, when I'm ready to buy one there's no remote volume! That's ridiculous, and is a no-go for me. I happen to have a Kicker sub and amp in my Vette, and from my experience you absolutely need to be able to control the sub separately. There's simply no single setting that sounds good with all music. Without that separate volume control one song sounds good then the next sounds like crap. I can't even imagine trying to turn bass up and down with the stock infotainment system in my truck for every song. The control is buried so deep in the system and trying to fine tune it on a touchscreen while driving would be next to impossible. You'd have to leave your screen in audio settings mode and try to hit just the right spots on the slider all the time. Kicker and GM blew it by making that change. I wonder how that Kicker hideaway 10" sounds compared to the GM version. It's half the price and has all the controls.

To identify the Kicker subs with the control port, the amps do NOT have the harness pigtail coming out of the amp. They have the white female harness plug on them, along with square edges on the amp.

mtbadbob · April 7

On 2/27/2024 at 3:42 PM, White LTZ said:

I was able to find the "older" version of the sub/amp on FB marketplace. It was used but in really great condition. I did the install last week using the original Kicker/GM instructions by tapping into the yellow and yellow/black in the passenger door jamb. Put all the dip switches up and added the Kicker bass control knob as mentioned in this thread. It sounds really good and makes a huge difference. I had planned to try the alternate Bose sub wiring but I'm happy as-is. Just letting everyone know there are some of the older models for sale out there. Also noticed the amp is two channel and there are four wires going to the sub so it must be dual voice coil. The amp is very similar in size and appearance the Kicker KEY series amps and is probably based off of these. I think one of the KEY series amps could be used to drive the sub with some wiring changes and adjustments. Picture of amp attached with the dip switch settings in the original positions.

Kicker factory settings are with switch 1-ON, so someone messed with yours already.

AsapAT4 · Wednesday at 03:15 PM

On 3/23/2022 at 10:01 PM, johnathanryan30 said:

I found an easier location to tap the sub wires actually. If you pull up the kick panel in the rear passenger door frame there's a small channel that the wires run through under a plastic cover. You just pop the cover off and find the blue and Grey wires and tap into them and you're set

are you talking about the channel that runs on the floor by the carpet? same one you remove for the normal install to run the harness?

myrez · Wednesday at 04:12 PM

On 5/22/2023 at 3:02 PM, Louie Foster said:

Ok, per earlier post the new subs don't have the dip switches or a port for remote gain control. I still connected to the subwoofer lines, much easier in the read passenger area of the vehicle AND... It was toooooo much bass. Even setting the bass as far back on the stereo as possible it was too much. Switching the phase helped - a little. But it was still too much unless listing to hip hop. It sounded really good with that FWIW. I eventually tapped into the yellow and yellow black, played with the phase through a few different genres and it is much better to my ears.

If you go to the rear seat passenger kick plate to access the wires it bends up easily and it gives you access to both the yellows and the green/blue. If you have a newer unit without the ability to add a remote gain control, the yellow maybe the way to go to get a more even sound.

Did you get yours sorted out? I want to tap into the sub wiring like everyone else but I have the same amp as you.

myrez · 2024-04-26T15:17:13Z

Has anyone else tried this alternate wiring with the amp without dip switches? If so, how did it turn out?

mtbadbob · 2024-04-27T02:38:10Z

11 hours ago, myrez said:

Has anyone else tried this alternate wiring with the amp without dip switches? If so, how did it turn out?

I would think that tapping into the factory sub wires is a better bet than the right or left side speaker wires regardless of what amp you have. Factory sub colors are: green/black & blue/gray, They are visibly larger than most all others in the harness, they look like 16 gauge.

Edited 15 hours ago by mtbadbob

mtbadbob · 2024-04-27T02:43:46Z

On 4/24/2024 at 9:15 AM, AsapAT4 said:

are you talking about the channel that runs on the floor by the carpet? same one you remove for the normal install to run the harness?

I believe he is talking about the sill plate cover. I tapped into mine right at the passenger front seat so I can access them just by removing the side seat track cover.